We may be the last. I passed by the old communications hub today and it had dust on it, which made me pause both because it was so odd - and because it is now so normal. Too many of us have died or scattered, fleeing and forgetting as the land slowly withered around us. But for the luck of o...
2020-04-22 15:45:42 +0000 UTC View Post
"Of course I have heard the contention that scriptsmithing is an art, but those who say such things are invariably somewhat poor artists."
- Vumo Ra, possibly apocryphal.
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The massive stone rolled up, pausing for a moment before toppling sideways and fracturing into a...
2020-04-15 15:55:20 +0000 UTC View Post
There are those who object to the expense of fortifying Sjatel, although it can be hard to distinguish honest concern from complaints about the state of my treasury with other aims in mind. It is fortunate that a king need not explain his actions, as the truth would disconcert them more even than my sil...
2020-04-08 16:00:06 +0000 UTC View Post
When you’ve entered into a profitable arrangement with the Sjocelym, bear in mind they’ll give up the arrangement before the profit.
- Aesvain saying.
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Jesse stiffened as the pair of men herded the rest of their group into the hall at swordpoint. Both were shrouded...
2020-04-01 16:00:05 +0000 UTC View Post
Fools smile on their way to Sjatel, lucky fools on the way back.
- Sjocelym saying.
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Grass spread over the wide boulevards of Sjatel, tinted gold by the morning sun rising over the water. Silent and crumbling buildings loomed on either side of the avenue that led into ...
2020-03-25 16:00:07 +0000 UTC View Post
returned from the shore of the eye itself and confirmed what we had feared - the array weakens, and where it does something else takes hold. There were no plans for this failure mode, and although we are asking everyone who still responds to search the texts passed down by our fathers I do not have much...
2020-03-18 16:00:00 +0000 UTC View Post
What to say of the Aesvain? I could say they’ve suffered, as if it weren’t obvious to anyone with eyes. I could say that they’re stubborn to a fault, as anyone with ears could learn simply by walking close. I do not wish to bore, however, so I will say that when the last king of Tinem ...
2020-03-11 16:00:00 +0000 UTC View Post
The rolling uplands of Tinem Sjocel are some of the best country one could hope to travel through. The views are scenic, the air fresh and crisp without any of the swampy lethargy that pervades the coastlands. The land, it has to be said, is practically perfect. Now, as for its inhabitants.....
2020-03-04 17:00:00 +0000 UTC View Post
Learning any discipline will alter your view on its subject, but for me history was the most jarring. When I was an utter novice I found history dull, then fascinating as I began to understand its intricacies. Later I laughed derisively at the idiocy of this or that historical figure that failed to anticipate ...
2020-02-26 17:00:05 +0000 UTC View Post
I am often called favored, gifted, and in truth I am. But gift upon gift becomes a burden, then a crushing weight, then a rockslide thundering upon me. Yet, I cannot tell her. Even as my back bows and my legs tremble, she smiles and gives me more, more. She shows me who I might be, sho...
2020-02-19 17:00:04 +0000 UTC View Post
message reaches you, we’ve been experiencing more communications failures recently and have had to strip several other systems just to keep this one active. Father would be sending this himself, but his age is catching up with him and even regrowth provides only moments of lucidity. I am afraid ...
2020-02-15 19:43:25 +0000 UTC View Post
It is easy to find water in Ce Raedhil, obviously, but finding drinkable water requires a coin of one sort or another. At first I thought this was a terribly clever commentary on the City, but after some reflection I was forced to concede that it is merely a meaningless, unpleasant fact stemming from ci...
2020-02-12 17:00:01 +0000 UTC View Post
GOZHELI: What thief do you take me for
brother of mine, am I one who at night
creeps to seize the toil of others
and sows blame for the deed elsewhere?
VANACO: Only a man do I take you for
brother of mine, for even honest me...
2020-02-08 16:39:35 +0000 UTC View Post
A Sjocelym farmer came across a poor Aesvain in the market one day who plucked at his sleeve, asking for work. “Ye honored,” the Aesvain said, “spare me a coin and I will work the plow in your stead.” The farmer refused, not having much coin to his name, but the Aesvain persisted, saying: ...
2020-02-05 17:00:04 +0000 UTC View Post
Water is the best armor, but it has yet to blunt a knife.
- Sauvain saying.
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Vimodi forced himself to unclench his fists, burying the excitement that sparked in his chest when his guard slammed a mailed fist into the wooden door. “Stand aside!”, the guard shouted g...
2020-01-29 17:00:04 +0000 UTC View Post
[Alre]ady seeing destabilizations in the areas farthest from the Nexus site, and a large-scale corrective action may be required much sooner than previously thought. The continuing severe weather and the lack of reliable transport has compromised our ability to perform necessary maintenance on the array. There...
2020-01-25 17:30:59 +0000 UTC View Post
Her words linger and work and work and work and work until they prove themselves true. I fear that I was not made for such truths, the very blood in my veins seems to rebel at knowing them. Does the shape of it come to the world from my mind or did it crawl through perception unbidden to etch itself on the mea...
2020-01-22 16:59:00 +0000 UTC View Post
Of course, none of this changes the immutable truth that nothing ever happens in Sjan Saal. This is not hyperbole, but a fact I have confirmed through long and exhaustive empirical research. The town is too mired in its own infamous mud to play host to an event of any importance. Even on wha...
2020-01-15 17:00:00 +0000 UTC View Post
Sjan Saal is the end of many things. Not even the road has the endurance to continue far past the old wall.
Lyneje Di Sazhocel Ciqi, unpublished letter. Royal archives, Ce Raedhil.
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Mark grunted with effort as he hauled another crate up into the truck, the hard plastic sliding gri...
2020-01-08 17:00:00 +0000 UTC View Post
The desert bears its scars with quiet dignity. They are old wounds, but the land’s long memory is written in unyielding stone. Many seek only to ease their passage while forgetting an essential truth: the old paths tell the story of our battle against the land, and seldom have we lost more decis...
2020-01-01 17:00:00 +0000 UTC View Post
[predic]tive models estimate that complete containment may be achieved within twenty-six days if there are no significant changes in scenario or deployment. Local populations are accepting the official explanation without significant unrest. Evacuation of the unaffected areas can be accomplished o...
2019-12-25 17:01:03 +0000 UTC View Post
A traveler in the desert is accosted by a Sauvain thief who brandishes a sword and demands the traveler’s purse. Upon seeing the thief’s face the traveler drops to his knees and cries: “O, what fortune! I have wandered long years in search of my brother, and you are he!” The two embr...
2019-12-18 22:03:59 +0000 UTC View Post
Those who deride the food of the Sauvain as simple fail to appreciate the savor and quality added by contrast. Begin with a simmering desert stock, add sand to taste and garnish with ash. Serve in a cool evening under the cerein, and oh - you would weep to taste it, had you the water.
T...
2019-12-11 17:01:01 +0000 UTC View Post
The natural habitat of the cerein is wherever you find one growing.
Unknown, Ta Satineim
Gusje was irrepressible during the long descent into the basin, practically vibrating in place with her excitement to return home. Although not quite at ...
2019-12-03 23:45:34 +0000 UTC View Post
Modern scholars will tend to criticize elements of the Sjocelym nobility for their initial response while ignoring the context in which their decisions were made. This is unfair, and I say this as one with more cause to bear a grudge than most. Consider: for all of living memory ruudun ha... 2019-12-03 23:38:09 +0000 UTC View Post
